


Common Ground

by icandrawamoth



Series: February Ficlet Challenge 2019 [10]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: X-Wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blogging, Chatting & Messaging, February Ficlet Challenge, Gen, Late Night Conversations, Online Friendship, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prisoner of War, Sharing, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-02-12
Packaged: 2019-10-27 04:19:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17759648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icandrawamoth/pseuds/icandrawamoth
Summary: Tycho and Wes meet via a late night Tumblr chat and some unexpected common ground.





	Common Ground

**Author's Note:**

> Written for February Ficlet Challenge day ten prompt "alternate universe: characters meet online." This doesn't make it to shippy, but it's just that very first meeting :)

Tycho wakes with his heart racing and immediately sits up in bed, back against the cool cinder blocks of the dorm wall. It helps the nightmares fade faster. He gazes across the room, relatively bright from the parking lot lights through the blinds. Wedge is sleeping soundly, and Tycho is grateful for that. It wouldn't be the first time he woke him up.

Tycho's breaths even out little by little, but even so, he knows he won't be able to go back to sleep any time soon. He never can after this; the images, though not as vivid as when he first returned, are still calamitous in the back of his mind – loud, painful, terrifying.

 _I survived_ , he reminds himself, closing his eyes and taking a steadying breath. _I escaped. I did my duty._

He opens his eyes again and reaches for his phone, sliding the brightness to nearly the lowest setting, and opens the Tumblr app. He was never a blogger before he went to war, but now he does it regularly. Curating pictures and quotes to fit the theme and aesthetic he's chosen helps calm his nerves and is just mindless enough he can do it even when distracted. And the thought that the things he chooses to share might help someone else means a lot.

None of the other blogs he follows are very active this time of night, but he finds a few posts he likes. A photograph of a sunrise over a lake. A couple of encouraging quotes done in graceful, flowing typography. A gifset of blooming flowers.

A new message notification pops up, and Tycho tabs over to read it. He gets them sometimes, usually one of his followers requesting more of a certain type of content or asking him to link them to specific past posts, and he's always happy to oblige. This is one is different, though. It's from a blog called dont-mess-with-wes, and all it says is, _Isn't it like two in the morning for you?_

Tycho squints at it for a moment. He's familiar with the name, someone who's followed him for awhile and likes some of his posts off and on. A cursory inspection of the blog (bio: Wes, He/Him, you know you love meme) had shown mostly memes and the occasional cat video. Tycho had followed him back more out of a sense of obligation than anything, but the posts do tend to make him smile when he sees them on his dash.

Which is to say that, though he isn't a total stranger, they're not exactly friends. They've never talked. The other knows what time is for him, because Tycho has posted his timezone in the past, making note of when he's likely most active, but he doesn't know why Wes is asking about it now.

 _Yeah, why?_ Tycho messages back.

_Weeknight and you're awake late posting. Seems to happen a lot lately._

Tycho frowns, wanting to tell him it's none of his business, but then another message comes through.

_Are you okay?_

The frown deepens, Tycho's thumbs hesitating over the keypad. Maybe it's the surprise or the liminal time of night with the dark visions in his head still lurking that makes him answer honestly.

_Nightmares. Doing this helps me relax._

_I get that,_ comes back immediately, followed by, _Same here._

Tycho almost scoffs. Whatever is bothering Wes can't possibly measure up to the PTSD of having been an actual POW. But he shoves that thought aside just as soon as it arrives. He knows better; he knows he doesn't have a monopoly on trauma just because of what he's been through.

_I'm sorry I randomly came into your inbox and started asking personal questions. I'll go away if you want._

_You're fine_ , Tycho is quick to assure him. He hesitates a moment before adding, _It's nice to know I'm not alone._

Wes sends back a smile emoji, then says, _Is that what you do? Blog when you're upset?_

_Sometimes._

_Can I ask you your name? If you don't wanna tell, that's okay._

Tycho starts, suddenly realizing he knows Wes's but hasn't put his own in his blog anywhere that he can remember.

_It's Tycho._

_That's unique. I like it._

_It's not like I chose it or anything. :p_

_I know. But still._

_Sure. Thanks._

There's figuratively silence for awhile, and Tycho thinks maybe Wes has gone away. He tabs over and scrolls down his feed again. There are no new posts from Wes since they started chatting. Tycho thinks about putting his phone away to trying to sleep when another message comes through.

_I know you don't know me or anything, but if you think talking would help, I'll listen._

Tycho has the strangest urge to tell him everything. He's not sure where it comes from.

 _I'm not trying to make it a sob story or anything, but...I was in the army. I got captured in Afghanistan spend time as a POW. I escaped and got honorably discharged after, and I'm in school now, but it's still...there._ He doesn't know if that conveys what he really means, but he hits send before he can take any of it back.

Anxiety craws up his spine as he waits for Wes's response, but it doesn't take long.

_Wow. I'm sorry, Tycho. That's gotta be awful._

_Yeah._ Tycho smiles just a little, glad to have it out. _Do you...wanna share too?_

There's what feels like a very long pause before Wes finally answers.

 _Only fair, right?_ Another pause. _I was in a car accident last year. I was mostly okay, but my buddy didn't make it. Still dream about it all the time._

Tycho's heart lurches. He wants to ask for details, but Wes has already told him far more than he had to.

_I'm sorry._

_Yeah. Thanks._

Tycho flexes his fingers over his phone, hesitant. _This is weird, right?_ he sends finally, and tries to temper it with another _:p_ face.

_So weird. XD But I feel like we're really bonding. Sharing trauma and all that._

Tycho feels relief. He never would have guessed that behind the memes and general silliness of his blog, Wes was a real person with real hurt and care. _I'm glad you messaged me. I feel better._

_Me too._

_We should do this again_ , Tycho says when a minute or two has passed with no more messages. _Maybe sometime when we're not both being emo and traumatized._

_I wish you could hear me laughing rn. XD That does sound good, though._

A yawn pulls at Tycho's mouth, and his eyes feel bleary. _I think I'm going to try to go back to sleep now._

_Okay. Good luck. Shoot me a message if you wake up again, and I'll get back you as soon as I see it._

_Same to you_ , Tycho responds, sudden warmth in his chest. _Thank you again._

_Don't mention it._

Tycho sets his phone aside and lays back down, curling up under his blanket. He breathes, letting the images of his dream fade entirely. He closes his eyes, replacing it with images of what Wes might look like, imagines his new friend finding peaceful dreams, too, wherever in the world he is.


End file.
